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Category: UK Elections – others

YouGov reports an 11% SNP lead in Scotland?

YouGov reports an 11% SNP lead in Scotland?

Could this point to disproportionate Labour losses in the General Election? A main reason why my preferred Westminster general election spread bet is on the number of Labour, rather than Conservative, seats is what might happen north of the border where the party could have several more seats at risk than the conventional GB-based seat calculators are suggesting. This is reinforced by a new YouGov poll on voting intention for the Scottish parliament which suggests that there has been a…

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Will this make Ken’s 3rd term a certainty?

Will this make Ken’s 3rd term a certainty?

Is now the time to get on at 0.58/1? The above appeared in the Times earlier in the week and I have kept it to one side because of the missing CD-roms story which has dominated everything. Ken Livingstone’s brilliant ability as a politician is to find a simple, easy to understand issue ahead of an election and make that the main plank of his campaign. He also knows that the issue that’s central to voters in a vast conurbation…

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Sean Fear’s Friday Slot

Sean Fear’s Friday Slot

The State of the Parties The last three months’ local by-elections have been the worst, in terms of seat losses, that the Conservatives have suffered for some time. Over that period, the Conservatives have made a net loss of eight seats, Labour a net gain of six, and the Liberal Democrats a net gain of two. However, analysis of changes in each party’s share of the vote suggests that the Conservatives still enjoy a substantial lead over the other two…

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Sean Fear’s Friday slot

Sean Fear’s Friday slot

Has Labour Lost the Overspill Estates for Good? From the late 1940s to the 1960s, when land surrounding London was cheap and plentiful, many London authorities built large council estates in the surrounding Home Counties. These varied enormously in size, from a few hundred houses in places like Ashwood Road, Potters Bar, through to estates of many thousands, in places like Borehamwood, Harlow, Loughton, Hemel Hempstead, Crawley, Hatfield, and Stevenage. Such has been London’s expansion over the years, that some…

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Has Gord let Boris off?

Has Gord let Boris off?

Could Henley become a tasty Lib Dem by election prospect? One aspect of Gord’s non-election decision is that Boris Johnson won’t be put into a difficult position over whether to stick as MP for Henley or not. For if there had been an election and he had not stood he could have found himself out of front-line politics if he then went on to fail in the mayoral race. Last week he was quizzed repeatedly about the dilemma and hinted…

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What will Gord make of the council by elections?

What will Gord make of the council by elections?

Do these make the general election decision even harder? Having worked for BBC national news for nearly a decade and a half and having been closely involved in politics since I cannot remember a Friday morning when a batch of local councils by elections has made the headlines. The only times the news editors have taken notice of these contests in the past has been when the BNP or similar parties has made progress. Maybe it was the revelation at…

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Could Cameron’s primary plan be used to stop Boris?

Could Cameron’s primary plan be used to stop Boris?

Will Labour supporters mess up the Tory election? In what could appear an ill-thought out move during the brash days of Cameron’s leadership the Tories decided that their choice for London mayor should be decided by an open primary in which any London voter could take part. But what sounded like a PR stunt could now be used against the party by its opponents to stop Boris getting on the ballot. For there are reports that Labour supporters are attempting…

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Sean Fear’s Friday slot – on Monday

Sean Fear’s Friday slot – on Monday

A London activist’s view of the Boris and Ken show Ken Livingstone said last week that Boris Johnson will provide him with the toughest challenge of his career, assuming the former is selected to run for Mayor of London, by the Conservatives. That is not quite correct. Fighting, and losing, Hampstead in 1979 must have been tougher, but there seems no doubt that he will face the hardest of his three campaigns for London Mayor. The London Mayor is elected…

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